Vengan Draelis
History Ruusan's spartan terrain, beyond the spaceports of the obscure, remote world, are as far from the bright center of the galaxy as anywhere else. Still, it's not uncommon for spirited young men and women to leave their homes, to go looking for something bigger, and brighter. So it was with Vengan, his family and the homestead left behind in the care of his cousins. Taking his father's old blaster and pack in hand, the young Vengan boarded the first ship he could, determined to make his way in the galaxy as his father had, years prior. Following the stories of Alliance refugees that had become neighbors on Ruusan, he began short but impressive enlisted career in the New Republic Marine Corps. His efforts attracted a great deal of attention for the young Vengan- not even twenty, he was recommended to attend Officer's School, and made his cadet rank in excellent time, having served with some distinction in several intense ground combat actions prior to his reassignment to the 224th on the ''Reprisal''. Personality Vengan's demonstrated an uncanny ability as a Marine sharpshooter in his time in the service. Capable of making some truly impossible shots, he's made it clear time and again that when it counts, he can deliver. His exploits are the stuff of legend, straddling the increasingly thin line between sheer awesomeness and jaw-dropping insanity. An expert at espionage, tradecraft, and subterfuge, he nevertheless prefers an approach that turns him into a one-man weapon, crashing headfirst with guns blazing. Of all the sentients in the known galaxy, he's one of the few who can say he crashed headfirst into a Star Destroyer- and the Star Destroyer came out worse for the wear. Once an excitable and brash young officer cadet, he has since cultivated a harder edge to his personality. Following his court-martial after the Dac Incident, Draelis' torture and brainwashing at the hands of the Sith broke him mentally. He returned humorless and with a hard outer shell around his psyche, more prone to sudden bursts of uncharacteristic emotion. He took to avoiding socialization, taking extended missions into deep territories and volunteering for the most hazardous assignments. It's only been in recent months that he's begun to break out of his shell, rejoining his friends and allies as a member of the team once more. Tactics Draelis is one of the few sentients who can take a seat-of-your-pants approach to methodical tactical planning. Using simple, basic combat drills, Draelis has a remarkable ability to adapt basic battle formations to even the most complicated situations, and makes excellent use of Marine command structure to bring maximum firepower and devastation down on his enemies. Given time to prepare the terrain to his advantage, it's a rare enemy who can survive an ambush the Marine springs. An expert in tradecraft and espionage, Vengan also believes that half of winning a fight is being prepared for any eventuality. To wit, he usually carries a significant arsenal of weapons, gadgets, and tools with him wherever he goes, concealed in such ways that even an extraordinarily intense scan will not notice them. While some individuals have the wherewithal and expertise to figure out the pick to every lock, Vengan just carries a key to every bolt, from concealed explosives to nanofilament garrote wires. While not an expert on mechanics or security systems, he understands how to hit things, and he is very good at simply tossing enough wrenches into a device to make it fail. New Republic History Vengan was a member of the 125th Scout Infantry, and served with some distinction on Chandrila. His squad was recognized for exceptional fortitude in the guerilla operations on the planet following its fall to the Empire in 14 ABY, including the rescue of refugees and attacks on Imperial convoys and bases across the planet. Once assigned to the 224th, Vengan demonstrated an amazing degree of controlled recklessness and utter disregard for his personal safety for the sake of his men. On his first mission, clearing a checkpoint in Coruscant's undercity, he killed a large, ravenous sub-terranean lizard with a block of ferroplast when the squad's light blasters proved uneffective. His next major action took place when Senator Faust revealed himself as Korolov, a Sith lord. Only lightly armed and with minimal coordination from higher officers, Vengan took command of the situation immediately. Rallying several able-bodied officers to him, they staved off Korolov's Coruscant Guard and evacuated the injured Senator Leia Organa Solo, along with several other important members of the Senate. His ad hoc squad is credited with saving her life. Throughout the battle for Coruscant, Vengan demonstrated on several occassions both reckless courage and his calculating ability to lead soldiers combat. A brilliant squad tactician, he's used guerilla warfare and unorthodox combat methods to defeat troop movements much larger than his own, and enjoyed considerable success doing so. His most vindictive, albeit uncorroborated boast, is an alleged sniper's duel with the Imperial Warlord. Having knocked Korolov from the sky, he pursued and was pursued in turn by the Sith, forced to flee only when Korolov brought in a Sentinel-class skimmer for evacuation. He credits his survival with more luck than anything else, or perhaps Korolov's affinity for the hunt over the kill. Vengan Draelis' most celebrated achievement is the elimination of a Victory-Class Star Destroyer, the VSD Dominator. Acting in coordination with a Marine strike team on the NR Corvette Black Shadow, he infiltrated the vessel using a heavily modified escape pod as a breaching device in conjunction with precise turbolaser fire. After destroying the secondary power distribution nodes, he set base charges on the primary fusion generators and fled the Dominator in one of their own escape pods, his escape covered by a feinted Marine assault on the Dominator's bridge. During recovery operations on Mon Calamari, Vengan was present for the evacuation of a detention center and its ambush by unidentified personnel. Using brilliant tactical and squad-level maneuvering, as well as sheer volume of fire from the assembled platoon, Lt. Draelis was able to subdue nearly a dozen enemy personnel and capture four for furthur interrogation. During recovery operations Vengan was present during the attempted smuggling of several containers of Republic and Marine equipment. Following the smugglers to their place of origin, he was able to destroy most of the smuggled goods including a crate of HH-15 missile launchers before escaping and being subsequently shot-down by a Z-100 snub fighter. Vengan's current assignment on Ord Mantell has given the young man a bit of breathing room after a hectic year of combat and danger. Promoted to 1st Lt. and awarded the leadership of Second platoon in the 224th Marine Battalion, the young Marine officer has begun to forge friendships off and on the battlefield with everyone from members of the NRI to the Republic Senate. Acting as a liasion for the 224th MBN to the Ord Mantell Security Forces, he has proven invaluable in supplementing local police and Army personnel with the unique touch of a unique Marine. Vengan Draelis was tasked out, along with the 224th, to support anti-pirating combat operations in Republic space. He led elements of Alpha Company in several crushing attacks on the pirate installations, effectively ending much of their mercenary buildup of strength. As part of Operation: Scatterswipe, Draelis and the 224th were deployed as Marine combat units in pursuit of Scatterswipe's objectives. Leading several short raids against various Imperial installations, inclduing a reconnaissance of the Cochrane robotics installation, Scatterswipe concluded with Draelis leading second platoon in a zero-g assault on an Imperial corvette laden with supplies. The vessel crashed aboard Dathomir, forcing a temporary truce with the surviving Imperials until they could be rescued. With the restructuring of the 226th into a Special Operations unit, Vengan Draelis was promoted to Captain and given a much wider degree of operational latitude and planning. He is now responsible for oversight on all operations he is tasked to complete and commands Alpha Company during garrison. Draelis' operation during the Dac Crisis on the Loman Medical Facility has put a blemish on the young Captain's career. Though the hostages were safely rescued, a vocal component of the Republic called for a war crimes committee to hold Draelis and the 224th Battalion responsible for the death of the individuals holding the hostages captive. Though exonerated, Draelis depression lasted for some months until the call to action came again. Facing the overwhelming might of the New Sith Order, Draelis led his Marines in bloody combat- sometimes melee- against the often monstrous Sith forces and Imperial Army. Shortly after saving Kashyyyk, Draelis was capture by Sith forces and underwent a horrible transformation at the hands of Darth Malign after a failed insertion behind enemy lines. For several weeks he was tortured, often repeatedly and at length. Ultimately, Malign successfully broke the Marine's mind and using conventional and Sith techniques, began reprogramming the Marine into something... else. Vengan turned into a cold, calculating killer, stripped of anything but the desire to serve Malign's will and destroy the enemy in front of him. He killed dozens, if not hundreds of Republic personnel, and the information he turned over to Malign did incalculable damage to the war effort. A Republic military force successfully captured and subdued Vengan, and it took the combined efforts of dozens of Jedi healers and neurologists to undo the extensive psychic and physical damage he had endured. After weeks of recuperation, he was making slow progress- though still prone to violent outbursts and fits of rage, he seemed to be making steady forward progress. He was freed after being deemed emotionally fit. This sparked off a chain of events that culminated with Vengan attempting to assassinate Danik Kreldin at the man's trial. He very nearly succeeded, save for the interference of two Jedi knights and Skywalker himself, who saved Danik and pulled him to safety. Vengan was taking into military custody and put into a high-detention facility, under heavy guard and restraints. He was secure, at least for the moment. All that changed in a moment when Siren was visiting him in the wards and made the mistake of freeing him, after days of pleading with her and begging her aid. Vengan took her hostage, and when Luke arrived, engaged in a massive physical contest with the Jedi. In an act of desperation he slit Siren's throat and left her for dead, then battled his way out of the high-security prison and into New Alderaan. After a grueling, three-day chase, he was brought to ground by his longtime friend Wrista Ipex, who maanged to break through the Sith conditioning by reciting the New Republic Officer's Oath. Vengan's next attack was intentionally clumsy enough to allow her to subdue the Marine. Jedi healers worked to remove the last remants of his conditioning, but many wary weeks passed while the Jedi and Military watched to make sure the dark assassin did not rise up again. The celebrated and decorated Marine returned to active duty a few months later, assuming a role as the field operations leader in the 224th. His team would make numerous extended forays deep into unfriendly territories, from Hutt space to the wild deserts of Tatooine, to Imperial-controlled planets. He assisted in operations across Coruscant and Sullust that effectively broke the Imperial back on both planets and was highly decorated for his actions in both conflicts. Galactic Alliance Draelis was one of the first Marines of the New Republic to formally transfer to the Alliance Defense Force. He was sworn in as a Major in the ADF early in 19 ABY, along with the bulk of his battalion, most of whom elected to remain soldiers for the galaxy at large. Currently, he has been spending extended time on Coruscant with ongoing operations and is supervising a highly classified retrofitting project along with Enth Sang while the last security and restoration measures are in place. He has also been enjoying something like a social life, a rarity for the usually reserved and withdrawn warrior. Rumors have tied him romantically with none other than Jessalyn Valios, the infamous Jedi Witch. Though hardly a newsworthy topic, it has created some stir of gossip in the community around the Jedi, for a wide number of reasons. Most people are smart enough to keep their tongues to themselves around the short-tempered Marine, though, who alledly put one naysayer into medical care already. Relationships *Wrista Ipex: Best friend *Luke Skywalker: Close friend *Jessalyn Valios: Love Interest Awards and Decorations *Marine Expeditionary medal for exceptional steadfastness in support of the 5th Coruscant Campaign. Multiple devices. *Corellian Cross. For exceptional meritorious service and valor above and beyond the call of duty during the Imperial takeover of the Senate before the Fifth battle for Coruscant. *Cross Crosslet: For exceptional courage and tactical leadership in the face of dire circumstances during Operation: Still Night during the Fifth Campaign for Sullust, resulting in the rescue of a dozen personnel, the disabling of the holotransmitter array, and the arming and training of the Sullustan Militia. *Alliance Trifecta: Talons of Hoth. Awarded for exceptional valor during the Kashyyyk operations while facing overwhelming Sith commando forces in direct combat. Awarded a second time for leading the first shock assault force during Coruscant 6 that opened a path for the follow-on forces at the Starport. *Alliance Trifecta: Spear of Endor. Awarded for a commando raid on a Victory-class Star Destroyer and subsequent demolition of said vessel. *Republic Field Achievement Award. Rendered for operations in the Chandrila campaign. *Valorous Crescent. Engaged by pirate forces on Kashyyyk during anti-smuggling operations and was forced to eject at low altitude. *Matooine Medal. Three devices. CLASSIFIED OPERATIONS. *Nebula Award. Awarded for enduring capture, interrogation, and torture by Sith separatists. *Rohal Cross. One cluster, one device. *Burdine Cluster w/ two clusters, one device, for numerous combat actions, initially awarded during the Chandrila campaign. *Crescent of Valor, five clusters. For innumerable wounds sustained during combat operations on Chadrila, Coruscant, Sullust, and sustaining Marine operations. Jokingly called his 'Failure to Dodge' award. *Superior Service Medal w/ two clusters, two devices, for consistent excellence in duty. *Operations Scatterswipe, Sixth Battle of Coruscant, Womprat Hunt. *Service Ribbons: Chandrila, Mon Calamari, Ord Mantell, Coruscant Five, Outer Rims, Sullust Five, Coruscant Six, Kashyyyk. Skill Designations *Master Expert Shield with Rifleman, Pistol bars. *Master Shield with Knife bar. *Expert shield with Combatives, Grenadier bar, Missile Weapons *Proficiency Circlet with Demolitions, Piloting bars. *Sniper Tab. *Air Assault with multiple devices.